Wildlife becomes the focus of attention

ONE of the must-see exhibitions of any year for photography or wildlife enthusiasts
is the BG Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition which is now on at
The Natural History Museum in London.

Jointly organised by the museum and BBC Wildlife Magazine, with the support
and sponsorship of the BG Group, the competition is launched each year in
the spring issues of the wildlife magazine and exists to encourage amateur
and professional photographers around the world to document the diversity
and wonder of nature, with the aim of emphasising the beauty and importance
of the natural world.

The finale is the opening of the exhibition of winning and recommended photographs
at The Natural History Museum, which opened on October 27th this year and
runs until March 11, 2002, before four sets of the exhibition then tour the
UK to be displayed at 32 different galleries, museums and nature centres.

This year, in excess of 19,000 entries were submitted for the judges' consideration
and the best from each category are now on show at the exhibition.

"We found grey reef sharks in this lagoon and used bait to habituate
them to meeting us at a particular coral head. Over the next fortnight, they
ventured closer each day, in groups of up to eight. Most were adult females,
with a distinct 'pecking order'. Though these sharks can be dangerous, we
never once felt threatened.

"This dominant female was the biggest (about two metres long), and sometimes,
out of apparent curiosity, she would swim straight towards us, then, at the
last moment, gybe sharply to change direction. Once I was familiar with this
habit, I could preset focus, exposure and flash and concentrate on panning
the shark as she cruised in. On this occasion, she was barely 30cm from me."

Other
images include a striking photograph of an American bison de-frosting (by
Mervin D Coleman, of the USA - winner in the Animal Portraits category) and
a particularly spellbinding shot of starlings flying into roost (by Jose L
Gomez de Francisco, of Spain - winner in the From Dusk to Dawn category),
which are pictured left and below.

The Wildlife Photographer of the Year and the Young Wildlife Photographer
of the Year each win a BG Award - a bronze statuette of the competition ibis
- together with a prize of £2,000 and £500 respectively. In each
category, the winners receive £500, and the runners-up £250. The
2002 competition will be launched in the January issue of BBC Wildlife, with
the closing date in April.

For
further information about the exhibition, why not click through to The Natural
History Museum's website or call the number above to find out details of opening
times.